One night Mini and Moni were swimming around in search of food. They had had their fill of their usual games and adventures during the day. The sun had set now and it was dark everywhere. Mini and Moni were all set to settle down for a restful sleep after catching a quick dinner. Now, you might know, the sea is a luscious bed of exotic plants, corals, rocks and small caves rarely seen on land.
They were just swimming over a rocky bed when they heard a soft whistling sound coming from one of the caves.
“What is that sound? It seems to be coming from the cave”. Said Moni to Mini.
“I don’t know but it is so good to listen” said Mini closing her eyes and gently swaying to the music. 
“Let’s go inside the cave and find out” said Moni.
“How will we go inside the cave in this darkness?” said Mini
“Yes, that’s true” said Moni “What shall we do?”
They swam around thinking of a way to see their way into the cave.
As all things have a way of resolving themselves after some time, so did their problem. After a while whom did they see swimming towards them but none other than Jared the jelly fish. Believe it or not, he is one of the many marine animals that can emit light and hence can see around them in the night. Jared was very proud of this and did not hesitate to show this off to anyone who cared enough to talk to him. Mini and Moni avoided talking to him because they were too tired listening to him boast about his “special power”. But today he was precisely who they needed.
Mini and Moni swam up to him and said “Hello there!!”
Jared was surprised. “Oh! Hello!! What holds you two here”? He asked.
“We wanted to go inside this cave and want to ask you if you can come with us so that we can see our way” said Mini.
“Why do you want to go inside the cave now” asked Jared.
“Can’t you hear the wonderful music coming from inside the cave?” asked Moni. “We want to go in and see who is playing it”.
Mini and Moni were afraid Jared would say no. But he was in a good mood that day and said “Ok, I will go with you. But in return for my help, you must promise to help me whenever I ask for your help”.
“Oh! Sure, Jared. We will definitely come whenever you need our help” promised Mini and Moni.
So they set about finding their way inside the cave. The cave was very much like a maze. Mini, Moni and Jared could not make out where the music was coming from as the whole cave seemed to echo with the sound. They would turn this way and that and often ended up bumping against each other. They were almost about to give up when they reached what seemed like a long passage and at the end of the passage was a sea horse whistling to himself.
When he saw Mini, Moni and Jared, he stopped whistling and asked in a tremulous voice “Wh-h-o are you?”
Mini introduced herself saying “I am Mini, this is my friend Moni and this is Jared. We don’t mean any harm. Please don’t be scared of us”.
“Yes” said Moni. “We want to be your friends and want to know more about you. What is your name?” she asked.
The sea horse was reassured by their kind words. She said “I am Simy. I often come here at night to practice my whistling”.
“You whistle very well. It is very enchanting” said Moni.
Simy was very pleased to hear this. She said “Thank you. You are very kind. I feel shy to whistle in front of others. I am afraid they might not like it and might make fun of me. So, I come here at night to practice on my own”.
“Oh rubbish. You don’t know how good you are” said Mini. “You should feel proud that you are so talented”.
“Yes” agreed Moni. “You should whistle your wonderful tunes in front of others so that they will also enjoy the music”.
“I have an idea” said Mini “Let’s formally invite all the sea folks to come and listen to Simy”.
“That’s a great idea, Mini” said Moni.
“Oh no, I can’t perform in front of a crowd” said Simy almost fainting at the suggestion.
“Yes, of course you can. Just plan ahead what you are going to play and practice it well” said Moni.
“What a stupid idea” said Jared who had been quite all this time. “As if people would want to sit and listen to someone whistling one tune after another”.
“That is actually correct” said Mini realizing that Jared had made a good point. “It would be absolutely smashing if we have someone to sing along with Simy. Who can we bring”?
“I know someone who can sing to my tune” said Simy suddenly excited, now that she knew that she would not have to perform alone.
“Who”?? asked Mini and Moni.
“Sally the seal. She sometimes sings outside the cave when I sit inside and whistle” said Simy.
“Ok, then lets all meet outside this cave tomorrow morning and plan the event” said Mini.
Mini and Moni then wished good night to Simy and Jared and left to catch their dinner and sleep. As they left, Jared called out “Don’t forget you both owe me a help and I shall ask for it anytime”.
“Sure Jared” said Mini and Moni and disappeared into the water.
Mini and Moni could hardly sleep that night as their little heads were full of ideas on how to hold the event.
Next morning they rushed to meet Simy who had brought Sally along with her. The four of them sat discussing where to hold the event, who all to invite, what songs to play and such things. After everything was planned, Simy and Sally went inside the cave to practice while Mini and Moni set about making all the arrangements.
First they invited all the sea folks they knew and asked them to bring all the sea folks they knew who could in turn bring all the sea folks they knew. This would bring in a big crowd, Mini and Moni felt sure.
The day and hour of the event finally arrived. One by one, the sea folks started arriving at the venue. All who came were surprised at the perfect arrangements that Mini and Moni had made. Facing them straight ahead was the stage which was actually a big rock. They knew it was the stage because it was beautifully decorated with colorful flowers and plants.
Ten jelly fishes all of whom could emit light like Jared were called in to provide the lighting. Their lights blinked on and off creating quite a wonderful effect. On both sides of this big rock were several small rocks with the choicest varieties of planktons, sea weeds and worms.
The audience eagerly helped themselves to the delicacies.
There was a thunderous applause when Mini and Moni came on stage. They thanked everyone for attending the event and then introduced the stars of the show, Simy the whistling sea horse and Sally the singing seal.
Simy and Sally came on stage and played one song after the other. They were so good that all the sea folks started dancing to the songs. Sally sang one song after the other and Simy whistled to the tune and the sea folks danced and danced until they were too tired to dance anymore. 
All in all, it was such a terrific night that everybody agreed they had never enjoyed themselves so much.
The next day Mini and Moni woke up feeling sad that the event was over. They resolved to hold such events regularly. Simy and Sally became very famous among the sea folks and often got requests to perform at birthday parties and other gatherings. Simy no longer felt shy of performing in front of others. Both Simy and Sally were thankful to Mini and Moni for helping them to bring out their talents.
They resolved to practice regularly and become the best artistes the ocean had ever known.
If you liked the story, do leave your comments
No comments:
Post a Comment